The museum is a place that inspires train enthusiasts of all ages from across the world. From the ‘Mallard’ to EuroStar and a Japanese bullet train it has everything that a railway fan would want to see.
With an exhibit that includes locomotives and railcars as well as artifacts and models it also has a number of interactive features for its visitors to enjoy. This makes it a very fun place to visit and a great choice for families as well.
The museum focuses on the history of railways but it is also a place that teaches people about the future of trains and the changes that are taking place in the industry. It shows how the modernization of railcars has brought them to be more than just a form of transportation. It shows how they have become sleek modes of luxury travel. It also reveals the ingenuity of how railways conquered the west and opened the country up for development as towns were built around railway stations.
As well as the more traditional concepts of a museum space with a display area and rail vehicles on display the train shed also has areas for dining and resting that are located in converted train cars. This helps to make the museum feel much more like a working rail yard which gives visitors a real sense of what life was like for those who worked on and around trains.
Many of the items at the railway museum are distinctly of the past but the institution does have a bit of a sense of humor too. One of the more fun features is a long diorama that recreates a busy rail yard in 1900. It is located in a space that was once a stationmaster’s office and reflects the way that railroad employees used to work in those days. The room has all of the typical furnishings such as desks, tables and chairs as well as the actual equipment that was used by railroad workers.
It is a very colorful and fun room to explore and it is one of the most popular places in the museum to take pictures of for visitors. There is also a large model of Stephenson’s Rocket that has been restored and made into a working replica that can be seen at events worldwide.
The museum has over 280 rail vehicles in its national collection, with around 100 of them being displayed at any time. Some of these are very rare examples such as the 1846 Furness Railway locomotive Coppernob or the London and North Western Railway locomotives Tiny and City of Truro. Others are being prepared for preservation such as 60008 Dwight D Eisenhower in BR Brunswick Green and 60000 Dominion of Canada, which will be repatriated to the museum from their North American homes at Exporail in Montreal and National Railroad Museum in Green Bay.
